


The Weight of Names

by GuardianLioness



Category: Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Gen, shortfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 18:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18665662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardianLioness/pseuds/GuardianLioness
Summary: Steven Grant Rogers closes his eyes.





	The Weight of Names

Peggy watches him while his head is down and the pen traces letters in the blank boxes of the form. The soft angle of her expression suggests that she thinks he is unaware of the lingering gaze. He says nothing. Even if he doesn’t merit her focused attention, he knows what the look means. He’s lived the same pain in reverse.  
  
He finishes filling in the string of letters and sighs audibly. A sign, a signal for her to look away and maintain a veneer of dignity. He sets the pen down as she shifts, and only then does he look up.  
  
“Done,” he says. His voice is soft and hollow.  
  
She reaches out and takes the paper, pulling it closer so she can read it. Her eyes flick across the line, then back up at him. A moment of silence hangs heavy in the air.  
  
When she finally speaks, her words are measured. Careful. “Are you sure?”  
  
“If I can’t use my name, then I want to use one that means something to me.”  
  
Her eyebrows furrow, pursed concern spreading across every inch of her face. “This is something you’ll hear every day. From strangers, from S.H.I.E.L.D. staff, from me.”  
  
She’s right, it’s a heavy question, but he’s thought it through. The night before the jump, while Banner was reassembling the path to the quantum realm, he didn’t sleep. Instead, he lay in the dark and considered.  
  
Considered if it was worth it. If it was selfish, and if the others would fault him. If he could move on by moving back, and what it would cost to try.  
  
“I can’t afford to forget.”  
  
She nods and sets the form down on the table. “I’ll take it in tomorrow.”  
  
“Then all that’s left is to avoid Phillips and Howard.” Easier said than done. Between his dark-dyed hair, Nat’s tricks, and the name…it’s possible.  
  
He places the paperwork atop the stack to his left. An entire laundry list of identities, befitting an active S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, ready for processing and documentation so that he can hide in plain sight.  
  
It’s how he’ll carry the future. How he’ll carry them.  
  
On US soil, Nathaniel Barton, Samuel Barnes, or Clinton Rhodes. Nicolai Maximov when doing battle with the Red Room. In his new old home, on a street in Brooklyn where an apartment complex will stand in 70 years, will live a man by the name of James Anthony.  
  
They’ll live. All of them, as the world prepares for their arrival. They’ll live in every word, every step, and every gesture. And in the dark, in hushed, lingering whispers and fading memories, so will Steve Rogers.


End file.
